Thickness gauging and stamping machine



7 Sheets-Shen E. K. sTANDlsH Filed June 27, 192s THICKNESS GAUGING AND STAMPING MACHINE June 24, 1930.

June 24, 1930. l E. sTANDlsH 1,766,725.

THICKNESS GAUGING vAND STAMPING MACHINE Filed June 27, 1928 7 SheetsSheec 5 June 24, 1930. E. K. sTANDlsH THICKNESS GAUGING AND STAMPING MACHINE Filed June 27, 1928 Q. l NON b. 3% NNN. NN LR. ww o o June 24, 1930. E. K. s'rANDlsH THICKNESS GAUGING AND STAMPING MACHINE Filed June 27. 1928 '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 .Il r 1', :y n, vz '.z 591 Il f f l i,f/ J fl 'L 'J U2 W if .1 'M 0 0 June .24,l 1930. E. K. sTANDxsH THICKNESS GAUGING AND STAMPING MACHINE Filed June 27. 1928 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 June 24, 1930.

E. K. STANDISH THICKNESS GAUGING AND STAMPING MACHINE Filed June 27, 192B 7 Sheets-Shed *'7 Patented `lune 24, 1930 UNTE! STATES EDXVARD K. STANDISH, F HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSGNOR TO GRATON 6c KNIGHT CQMPANY, 0F WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, .A CGRPORATIQN 0F MASSACHUSETTS THICKNESS GAUGING AND STAMPING MACE-HNE Application led .Tune 27,

This invention relates to a machine for measuring the thickness of sheet material and for stamping an indication of such thickness on said material. /Vhile capable of general application, the invention is particularly useful in gauging leather hides, in which the thickness varies Widely in different parts of the surface.

Such gauging and stamping of the leather of great assistance to the operator ivho thereafter cuts the hide and assembles the pieces of leather for the manufacture of belting or other products. Accurate indication of the thickness of each unit portion at each such piece vof leather permits substantial economy, by utilizing each piece of leather to its greatest useful thickness.

lt is the object of my invention to provide a machine which will automatically gauge tl e thickness of a piece of sheet material fed thereto, and preferably having provision for stamping or impressing an indication of such thickness on said material.

A further object is to provide a machine which will automatically gauge and indicate such thickness at frequent and definitely spaced intervals as the sheet material, such as a hide of leather, is fed thereto. Preferably l provide a plurality of such gauging and stamping devices, spaced across the machine and all operated at definite intervals as the hide is fed through the machine, so that every 'cuit area throughout the length and breadth of the hide will receive an indication showing the thickness of the hide for each such unit area, Obviously the gauging mechanism may beopera-ted, independently of the stampmechanism, to give a visual indication of thickness variation.

My invention further relates to arrange ments and combinations of parts which Will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

i preferred form of the invention is shown. in the drawings in which l is a front elevation of my improved iiachine; y

2 is an end elevation thereof, looking in the direction of thearrow Q in Fig. l;

1928. Serial No. 288,786.

Fig. 3 is a partial rear elevation, looking in the direction of the arrov7 3 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a partial sectional end elevation, taken along the irregular line 4 4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail end elevation of a gear drive;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged side elevation of certain parts shown in Fig. Ll;

Fig. 7 is a sectional plan view, taken substantially along the line '7 7 in Fig. l;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged plan View of the upper feeding mechanism, looking in the direction of the arrow 8 in Fig. l;

Fig. 9 is a sectional end elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 8 and looking in the direct-ion of the arroiv 9 in said figure;

Fig. l0 is a det-ail sectional front elevation, taken along the line 10-10 in Fig. 9;

Fig. ll is an enlarged end elevation of the gauging and stamping mechanism, taken along the line ll-ll in Fig. l;

Fig. l2 is an enlarged detail front elevation, looking in the direction of the arrow l2 in Fig. ll;

Fig. 13 is an enlarged sectional plan view of the gauging and stamping mechanism, taken along the line 13-13 in Fig. 12; and

Fig. 14 is a detail sectional elevation, taken along the line lll-14 in Fig. 13.

Referring to the drawings, my improved gauging and stamping machine comprises a frame 2O (Fig. l) supporting a table Ql'over which'the leather or other material L is fed as will be hereinafter described.

Trie table 2l comprises front and rear poi'- tions, indicated in Fig. 4, sepa-rated by a supporting bar 22 and by tivo or more lower feed rolls 23. The bar Q2 is firmly supported by a cross beam 25 and is preferably arched so that the leather will be drawn firmly over the high point thereof.

Feeding mechanism The lower feed rolls 23 are provided with pinions 2G each meshing with an idle intermediate gear 27. @ne of the pinions 26 is engaged by a driving gear Q8, which in turn is rotated by a pinion 29 off a shaft 30. The shaft 30 is provided with a ratchet Wheel 3l (Fig. 6) engaged by a spring plunger 3:2 yieldingly mounted in an arm or carrier 33 which swings loosely about the axis of the shaft 30.

A link 35 is pivoted to a stud 36 which is adjustable longitudinally of the arm 33 by an adjusting screw 37. By turning the screw 37, the effective length of the arm 33 may be varied. The link 35 has its lower end pivoted on a crank-pin 4() (Fig. 3) mounted in a disc 41 fixed on a cross shaft 4i.

The shaft 42 is connected through reduction gearing (not shown) to a shaft 43 (Fig. 1) having a pulley 44 connected by a belt 45 to a pulley 46 on the armature shaft of a motor M which is mounted in fixed position in the machine and is supported by cross frame members 47 (Fig. 1).

By this construction. the crank-pin disc 41 is continuously rotated at relatively slow speed and the link 35, through the ratchet wheel 31 and the gearing.,r above described, gives the feed rolls 23 frequently repeated intermittent feeding movements. The amount of feed at each graduation may be varied by adjustment of the stud 36 along the swinging arm 33.

An idle gear 50 (Fig. 5) engages driving gear 28 and transmits motion to a pinion 51 on a cross shaft 52. The shaft 52- (Fig. 9) is mounted in suitable bearings 53 (Fig. 8) and supports a bevel gear 54 engaging a bevel pinion 55 on a short shaft 56 also rotatable in a fixed bearing in the frame member 57. The shaft 56 is connected by universal joint devices 58 (Fig. 8) to a shaft 59 provided with spiral gears 60 (Fig. 10) engaging similar gears 61 on two or more upper feed rolls 62.

The upper feed rolls are rotatable on suit` able anti-friction bearings in a frame lnember 63 (Fig. 9) loosely mounted on a cross shaft 64 in a supporting arm 65 (Fig. 8).

The upper feed rolls 62 are thus intergeared with the lower feed rolls Q3 and rotate in the same direction. One or more pairs of upper and lower feed rolls engage the leather ateach side of the cross-bar 22, thus causing the leather to be firmly stretched by the separated pairs of feed rolls and to be rmly seated on the cross bar 22.

Releasing mechanism Special provision is made for relieving the pressure of the front feed rolls. when it is desired to introduce a new piece of stock thereto. For this purpose the frame member 63 (Fig. 9) is connected by a link 70 to an arm 71 loosely pivoted on a cross shaft 7 Q, to which the supporting arm are secured.

The arm 7]A has an upwardly extending portion 73 (Figs. 9 and 11) and is provided at its upper end with a hardened block 74 (Eig. 11), adapted to engage a shoulder 75 on a block 76 secured on an arm 77 mounted on a rock shaft 78. The shaft 78 is angularly movable in bearings 79 (Fig.

vided with a depending arm 8() (Fig. 2), to the lower end otl which is connected a link 8l having a turn-buckle 82 by which its length may be adjusted.

The link 81 is provided with a collar 84 at its outer end, engaged by a spring 85". A hand lever 86n is pivoted at 87 on the frame 2() and has a depending arm 88"* pivoted on collar 84. The spring 85a normally holds the parts in the position shown in Fig. 11, with the arm 77 pressed downward to cause its block 76 to engage the block 74 in the upper end of the arm 73.

Vhen thus engaged, the link (Figs. 9 and 11) is pressed downward. holding the frame member 63 in normal or operative position. )Vhen the handle 86 is depressed. the link 81 will be moved to the right in Fig. 2, raising the block 76 and releasing the arm 73. )Vith the parts in this condition, the frame members 63 may be easily rocked and the front feed rolls may be thus separated to permit insertion of a new hide of leather.

The parts are then re-latched by exerting pressure manually on the supporting arm 71 (Fig. 9) until the lug 74 (Fig. 11) again engages the shoulder on the block 76. I have thus provided for manually releasing the pressure so that the upper feed roll carriage may be rocked when a new piece of leather is to be inserted and so that the normal pressure thereof may be quickly restored.

gauging and stamping mechanism The gauging and stamping mechanism is shown herein as comprising a plurality of units G, spaced apart crosswise of the machine as indicated in Fig. 1.

I have shown these units as mounted in three pairs with feed roll units between adjacent pairs. A description of one gauging and stamping unit will apply equally to all of the other units.

Referring particularly to Figs. 11 to 14, each improved gauging and stamping mechanism comprises a stamping wheel having numbers thereon indicating di'erent thicknesses of material, the graduations commonly corres onding to differences of a sixtyfourth o an inch in thickness.

The wheel 85 is mounted on a short shaft 86 (Fig. 13) rotatable in bearings 87 secured to the lower ends of plungers 88 (Fig. 11) vertically slidable in a fixed support 90. A spring 91 (Fig. 12) engages a cross-bar 92 connecting the upper ends of the plungers 88 and normally maintains the wheel 85 iu raised position. A pinion 94 (Fig. 14) is formed on the shaft 86 and is engaged by a rack bar 95 mounted at the lower end of a rod 96 also slidable in the support 90.

A second rack bar 97 (Fig. 1.1) is formed at the upper end of the rod 96 and is slidable through the cross frame member 92. The

3) and is prorack bar 97 is engaged by a segment gear 98 formed on a rock arm 99 pivoted at 100 and having a counter-balancing weight or arm 101. A spring 102 (Fig. 11) connects a stud 103 in the arm 101 to a stud 104 on an arm 105 secured to a rock shaft 106, oscillated by mechanism to be described.

A second stud 107 (Fig. 11) in the arm 105 provides a slidable bearing for a rod 108 having adjusting nuts 109 at its upper end. At its lower end the rod 108 is connected to a bell crank 110, pivoted at 111, and having an offset portion adapted to engage a projection 112 on the outer end of a sliding latch 113. The latch 113 is slidable in a fixed bearing 114 and is pressed yieldingly outward to operative position by a spring 115. Wvhen in operative position, the latch 113 engages the lower face of the cross-bar 92.

W hen the arm 105 (Fig. 11) is raised by rocking movement of the shaft 106, the spring 102 acts yieldingly to apply downward pressure to the rack bar 97, rota-ting the stamping wheel 185, by the engagement of the rack (Fig. 14) with the pinion 94, while movement of the crossbar 92 is restrained by the latch 113.

lf rotation of the stamping wheel is interrupted, the rack bar 95 and pinion 94 then form a rigid connection between the rack bar 97 and the stamping wheel 85. As the wheel is held from vertical movement by the cross bar 92 and latch 113, no further movement of the rack bar 97 can take place until the latch 113 is withdrawn. The spring 102 is placed under increasing tension, as the upward movement of the arm continues. The rod 108 is eventually raised, withdrawing the latch 13 and permitting the rack bar 97 and cross-bar 92 to descend quickly. Such downward movement, due to the tensioned spring 102, is very abrupt and stamps the wheel 85 sharply against the surface of the leather.

Aetuatz'ng/ mechanism rEhe mechanism for oscillating the rock shaft 106 comprises au arm 120 (Fig. 2) connected by a link 121 to an arm 122 on a lower rock shaft 123. An arm 124 (Fig. 4) is loose on the shaft 123 and is connected by a link 125 to a crank-pin 126 in a disc 127 secured to the opposite end of the shaft 42 (Fig. 3) previously described. y

The arm 124 is thus regularly oscillated and I the hub thereof (Fig. 3) is provided with clutch teeth (zo-operating with a clutch collar 131 keyed to the shaft 123 and yieldingly forced into driving engagement by a spring 133 mounted on the shaft 123 and engaging a collar 134 fixed thereon.

The sleeve 135 extends along the shaft 123 from the collar 131, and at its outer end is grooved as indicated at 136 in Fig. 7 to receive pins 137 in the yoke 138 mounted on an upright shaft 139 rotatable in a liXed bearing 140 (Fig. 4).

A second arm or yoke 141 (Fig. 7) on the upright shaft 139 engages a collar 142 (Fig. 11), slidable o-n the rod or link 81 previously described. rl"he spring 85a on the rod 81 seats the collar 142 against a shoulder on the rod 81 but permits yielding sliding movement of the collar thereon. When the handle 86a (Fig. 2) is raised, the collar 142 will be moved to the left in Fig. 2 and to the right in Fig. 7, thus withdrawing the clutch collar 131 (Fig. 3) and preventing oscillation of the shaft 106 whenever desired. I

A handle (Fig. 2) is fixed on the rock shaft 123 and may be used for manually operating the stamping mechanism when the clutch is disengaged.

Gauge setting mechanism I will now describe the mechanism for setting the impression wheel 85 to correspond to the thickness of the stock to be gauged.

For this purpose the wheel 85 is provided with a series of segmental abutments 152 (Fig. 13) positioned for engagement by the end of a stop arm 153, pivoted at 154 o-n a projection 155 11) of the frame 20.

A stud 156 (Fig. 13) on the hub of the stop arm 153 has a ball and socket connection with a link 157 having a turn-buckle 158 at its center and having a ball and socket connection with a stud 160 (Fig. 11) in the upper end of an arm 161, mounted on a short shaft 162, provided with a second arm 163 having a shoe 164 formed thereon and adapted to engage the upper surface of the leather to be measured.

A spring (Fig. 13) is connected at one end to a stud 171 in the frame 20 and at the other end to a stud 172 in the hub of the stop arm 153 and yieldingly resists upward movement of the shoe 164.

It will be noted that the shoe 164 is positioned directly over the high point of the cross-bar 22 on which the belt rests as it is drawn between the pairs of upper and lower feed rolls 62 and 23. As the belt engages the shoe 164 and presses the same upward, the stop arm 153 is swung toward the segmental abut-ments 152 on the side of the impression wheel 85.

rIhe movement of the stop arm 153 toward the segmental abutments depends directlyT upon the thickness of the leather under the shoe 164 and rotation of the wheel 85 will be stopped by engagement with the stop arm 153 at a point corresponding to the elevation of the shoe 164 and consequently corresponding to the thickness of the leather under the shoe.

After rotation of the wheel 85 is thus stopped, the latch 113 is withdrawn and the wheel will be forced directly downward with an abrupt movement, marking the leather with the impression of the number which was placed in printing position by thc coopera tion of the segmental abutments 152 and the swinging stop arm 153.

This setting and stamping operation takes place every time the shaft 123 is oscillated by its rotating crank-pin and takes place alternately with the feeding movement of the rolls 23 and 62, occasioned by the rotation of the second crank-pin 40. The parts thus move in timed relation, alternately feeding the leather, and then gauging and stamping the leather on selected units of its area.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not Wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is 1. A device for gauging leather or other sheet material comprising, in combination, a gauge for measuring the thickness of the material, means for imprinting upon the material marks indicating the measurement ascertained by the gauge, and automatic means for intermittently feeding the material relative to the said gauge and said imprinting mechanism after each marking operation and for thereafter imprinting another mark thereon.

2. A device for gauging leather or other sheet material comprising, in combination, a gauge for measuring the thickness of the material, means for imprinting upon the material at or adjacent the point of contact of the gauge therewith the numerical value of the measurement ascertained by the gauge, and means for feeding the material relative to the said gauge and said imprinting means for repetition of the process.

3. A thickness gauging and stamping machine for leather hides and similar sheet material comprising a gauging and stamping device. means to feed said material intermittently by said device, and means to actuate said device intermittently to gauge said material and to stamp an indication of thickness thereon at regular spaced intervals.

4. A thickness gauging and stamping machine for leather hides and similar sheet material comprising a gauging and stamping device, means to feed said material intermittently by said device, and means to actuate said device intermittently to gauge said material and to stamp an indication of thickness thereon at regular spaced intervals, said feeding mechanism and said gauging and stamping mechanism operating alternately.

5. In a thickness gauging and stamping machine, a stamping Wheel having a series of graduated abutments on its side face, means to turn said wheel, and means to variably engage said ahutmcnts and limit said turning movement in accordance with the thickness of the material being gauged.

6. In a thickness gauging and stamping machine, a stamping wheel, means yieldingly tending to give said wheel an excess turning movement, means to limit said turning movement in accordance with the thickness of the material being gaugcd, and means to thereafter move said wheel abruptly toward said material to impress an indication of thickness thereon.

7. A device for gauging leather and other sheet material comprising in combination a gauge for measuring the thickness of the material, a reciprocatory head, a stamping-wheel having tigures upon its periphery and carried by said head into and out of contact with the surface of the material, means causing the gauge to rotate the stamping-wheel to present to said surface the ligure having the proper value to represent the measurement being taken by the gauge, and means for feeding the material relative to the said gauge and stamping-Wheel for repetition of such contact at spaced intervals upon the surface.

8. A machine for gauging the thickness of leather or other sheet material, comprising in combination a support, means for feeding the material over said support, and a plurality of gauging devices disposed across the course of movement of the said material, each adapted to record upon the surface of the material the thickness ascertained by it.

9. A machine for gauging the thickness of leather or other sheet material, in combination, means for feeding the material through said machine, a plurality of gauging devices disposed across the course of movement of the said material, each adapted to record at spaced intervals upon the surface of the material the thickness ascertained by its gauge, and means to actuate said gauging devices.

10. A thicknessl gauging and stamping machine for leather hides and similar sheet material comprising a plurality of gauging and stamping devices disposed across said material, means to feed said material by said devices, and means to actuate said devices intermittently to gauge and stamp the material vvhcrehy an indication of thickness is placed on each unit area of said sheet material.

11. In a thickness gauging and stamping machine, a stamping Wheel, means including a spring for yieldingly turning said wheel, means to ositively limit such turning movement, ant means through which the same spring is thereafter effective to depress said stamping wheel to impress the material bcing gauged.

12. A thickness gauging and stamping machine comprising a gauging and stamping device, a feeding means, and means to alternately actuate said means and said device, whereby the material is gauged and stamped at predetermined spaced intervals.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto a ffixed my signature.

i EDVARD K. STANDISH. 

